ImpeachmenCritics: Feds reopened tribal schools without asking or advising tribes

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers and tribal leaders berated the Bureau of Indian Education on Thursday for a school reopening plan that prioritizes in-person learning, despite tribes’ opposition to the plan in the face of COVID-19 health concerns.

When the BIE released its “Return to Learn!” plan in late August, it was “in effect doubling down on the very position that drew strong criticism from Indian Country in early August,” said Joe Garcia, co-chair of an education subcommittee for the National Congress of American Indians.

Garcia and other witnesses also told the House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing that they were left with less than a month to prepare for a Sept. 16 in-person reopening date after the BIE guidelines went out in late August.

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/091420_tribal_schools/critics-feds-reopened-tribal-schools-without-asking-or-advising-tribes/